Katie Mead is an experienced dispute resolution practitioner, with a global practice focused on the resolution of major project and construction disputes. She has significant experience acting for parties in arbitration and litigation proceedings and has successfully represented clients in relation to several of the largest project disputes in the Asia-Pacific region. Katie has been recognized in numerous legal directories including Doyle's Guide, The Legal 500 Australia, Best Lawyers, and Australasian Lawyer.
Katie acts for clients in construction and operational disputes arising out of high-value onshore and offshore projects throughout the world. Katie has worked on a range of projects involving mining, oil and gas, renewables, pipelines, processing plants, and marine construction. She has particular experience running complex international arbitrations and has conducted arbitrations seated in multiple jurisdictions. She also represents clients in Supreme and Federal Court litigation throughout Australia.
Katie has particular experience in claims for breach of contract, defective works and latent conditions, as well as statutory misleading or deceptive conduct claims, design and warranty issues, and contractual claims relating to extensions of time, variations, and project delays.
Katie also provides strategic project advice to a number of clients in the energy, resources, and infrastructure sectors. She has significant experience acting as project counsel, assisting clients in navigating issues throughout the course of a project to avoid formal dispute resolution proceedings wherever possible, and ultimately achieving successful project completion.
Katie sits on the Law Council of Australia's Construction and Infrastructure Committee and is on the Partnership Committee for the National Association of Women in Construction.
Experience
"Extremely attentive to client needs" and "quick with strategic advice to drive desired business outcomes."The Legal 500 Australia
- University of Melbourne (LL.M. with first class honours 2020; Corrs Chambers Westgarth Award for Remedies in the Construction Context 2020; Awarded the Frank Pinkerton Scholarship for Advanced Construction Law 2018); University of Western Australia (LL.B with distinction 2011; B.A. in English Literature 2011)
- Supreme Court of Western Australia; Federal Court of Australia; High Court of Australia
The Legal 500 Australia: Infrastructure, projects, and construction (2025)
The Best Lawyers in Australia: Litigation (2026); International Arbitration (2026)
Doyle's Guide: Construction and infrastructure litigation (leading) (2022-2025); Litigation and dispute resolution (recommended) (2025); Construction rising star (2018-2021)
Australasian Lawyer: Elite Women (2023)
Tom Yuncken Australian Young Construction Lawyer Award (2021)
Lawyers Weekly "Australian Law Awards": Senior Associate of the Year (2018)